Designer Prabal Gurung Launches Emergency Fund for His Native Nepal
Nepalese designer Prabal Gurung, who was born in Singapore but raised in Kathmandu, has launched a campaign to raise money for victims of Saturday’s devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake. To date, the Nepal Earthquake Fund, which will channel funds to Gurung’s Shikshya Foundation in Kathmandu, has raised over $211,000. Gurung initially started his foundation with the aim of educating women in his native country in the hopes of staying grounded and connected to his roots. “The goal is to really educate these displaced girls and kids. It’s one of the most fulfilling things. Of course, I love what I do—I’ve always wanted to do this—but this is like a grounding factor for me. When your life is a twice-a-year runway show, ad campaigns, the Met Gala—all these fabulous things—you lose touch with reality.” Gurung says money raised through his foundation for earthquake relief will be distributed where the needs on the ground are the greatest.
In 2012, Gurung, who has dressed Michelle Obama, Kate Middleton, and scores of celebrities, traveled to Nepal with his friend Diane von Furstenberg. The trip, says DVF, left her “in awe.”
Today, many of the historic temples Gurung and von Furstenberg visited lie in ruins, and more than 3,000 people have died, including a number of mountaineers on Mount Everest as well as countless victims in the region’s remote villages.
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